Month: June 2020

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 24, 2020 / 03:00 am (CNA).- Edmond Ilg, 62, has been a father since the birth of his son in 1986. 

But on June 21, he became a “father” in a whole new sense: Edmond was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark. 

It was Father’s Day. And making the day more special, it was Edmond’s son — Fr. Philip — who vested his father at ordination. 

“To be with Philip is a tremendous gift,  and to have him pray over me and invest me is the greatest gift,” said Edmond. His son was ordained in 2016 for the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., and travelled to Newark for the day. 

Fr. Edmond never thought he would become a priest. He had a wife, a chemical engineering degree, and a successful career. But after his wife died of cancer in 2011, he began to consider a new vocation. 

At his wife’s wake, a family friend wondered out loud that “maybe Ed will become a priest,” Fr. Edmond told CNA. That day, it seemed like a crazy suggestion, but Fr. Edmond now calls the encounter “extremely prophetic,” and said the remark planted an idea in his mind. 

Edmond did not grow up Catholic. He was baptized a Lutheran, and he told CNA that he went to religious services “about half a dozen times” until he was 20. He met his wife at a bar, and they began a long-distance relationship. 

While they dated, he became a Catholic and attended Mass with his future wife, Constance – everyone called her Connie. They married in 1982. 

After Connie died, Edmond, who along with his family participates in the Neocatechumenal Way, quit his job and embarked on what is called an “itinerancy,” a period of travelling missionary work organized by the Neocatechumenate. Edmond told CNA that, at least in the beginning, “priesthood was never anything in my mind.” 

During his time as a missionary, Edmond was assigned to help in a New Jersey parish, and also worked in prison ministry. While he lived as a missionary, he began to feel the pull of the priesthood. 

After helping lead a trip to the 2013 World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro, where he prayed for and continued to discern his vocation, Edmond called his catechist, telling him, “I think I have the call [to priesthood].” 

He was sent to a seminary affiliated with the Neocatechumenal Way in the Archdiocese of Agaña, Guam, and was eventually transferred to the Redemptoris Mater Seminary in the Archdiocese of Newark to complete his studies. 

Fr. Philip told CNA that after his mom died, he had sometimes wondered if his newly-widowed father would become a priest.

Father Edmund and to his son, Fr. Philip.

“I don’t know if I ever said this–because I wanted to wait until it actually happened–but the first thought that crossed through my mind in the room there, when Mom died was that ‘my dad would become a priest,’” Philip said. 

“I can’t explain where it came from.” 

Philip said that he knew his father “couldn’t kind of just sit around and make money,” and that “I knew he had a mission.” 

Philip never told anyone about his thoughts, he said, instead choosing to place his trust in God. 

“I never said a single word about that thought. Because if it came from the Lord, it would bear fruit,” said Philip. 

During his transitional diaconate year, Edmond was assigned to serve at the same parish where he had spent time as a missionary. His first temporary assignment, which begins on July 1, will also be at the parish. 

“I arrived [at the parish] with no plans for the priesthood, and the cardinal and the other people had no idea of where they were going to assign me, but that is where they wound up sending me — to the place where my vocation started,” he told CNA. 

Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Fr. Edmond will not find out his permanent assignment until later in the summer. Normally, priestly assignments in the Archdiocese of Newark begin on July 1, but that will be delayed this year until September 1. 

The father and son priests told CNA that they are particularly grateful for the community of the Neocatechumenal Way, which Philip described as “the instrument that God used to save my family.”

The Ilgs were introduced to the Catholic program of spiritual renewal during a tumultuous time in their marriage, shortly after the loss of an infant son in childbirth. 

The father and son vocations “didn’t just happen sort of in an isolated setting,” Philip explained. “It happened because there was a community which nourished faith and allowed faith to grow.” 

“Throughout the years, I really have seen the faithfulness of God through the Neocatechumenal Way,” said Philip. Without the community’s support, Philip told CNA that he does not think neither he nor his father would be priests. 

“If it weren’t for a community of faith, which nourished us in faith and formed the body in which it was able to handle us,” he said, they would not have had such a remarkable Father’s Day. 

[…]

CNA Staff, Jun 23, 2020 / 07:01 pm (CNA).- The Bishop of Metuchen led a prayer service for racial harmony and justice Friday, urging Catholics to focus on the eradication of racism.

Bishop James Checchio held the prayer service at the Cathedral of St…. […]

Denver Newsroom, Jun 23, 2020 / 05:40 pm (CNA).- As hospitals continue to treat patients with COVID-19, many expectant women worry about exposing themselves and their babies to the virus while giving birth. Their concern has led to a surge in demand for at-home births, according to some midwives.

In 2018, about one percent of births occurred at home, according to a CDC study. That figure has been on the rise since 2004, according to a study published in the journal Birth, which reported that the figure for at-home births increased by 77% between 2004 and 2017. The study found that the increase may be due to increased coverage of home births by insurance.

But the surge in demand for home births during recent months is unprecedented, Catholic midwives told CNA.

Catholic midwife Tiara Rodgers, whose practice, Modern Miracle Birth serves women in central Texas, says she has seen demand for her services double.

“Because of covid, a lot of women and families are finding themselves considering home birth when they would’ve never thought otherwise to consider home birth,” Rodgers told CNA. “Midwives are busier than ever right now.”

Midwives, who are the traditional form of obstetrics in many countries, are licensed from the American Midwifery Certification Board or the North American registry of midwives. The United States also recognizes midwives who obtain a graduate degree after completing a nursing program.

In 2018, the World Health Organization recognized the value of midwives in a report, which stated that properly trained midwives could prevent 80% of deaths associated with childbirth, especially in developing nations. The WHO hopes to develop midwifery programs in both third-world and first-world countries by 2030.

Midwives are trained to deliver babies in low-risk pregnancies, often with the help of a doula, who offers emotional support for women during the birth itself. If a risk-factor develops during the pregnancy, midwives bring women to a hospital for further care. That, said Rodgers, will not change even in a pandemic.

Because of the virus, Rodgers said that women are doing their own research into home birth as a viable alternative to hospital care. And they are finding that for low-risk pregnancies, the outcomes are very good.

“Some moms who are due in a couple of weeks are calling us up and saying ‘do you have room for me? I’m 37 weeks… and I really don’t want to birth in a hospital,’” said Rodgers.

One mother contacted Modern Miracle Birth 38 weeks into her pregnancy. She was afraid of going to the hospital, although she admitted that she knew nothing about having a baby at home.

But after meeting Rodgers, she trusted her team and decided to have her baby at home. She gave birth to a nine-pound baby boy in her bathtub.

“You could see the fear melt away. That was really, really beautiful, because it was not what she expected at all,” said Rodgers.

Tracy Santangelo, a midwife whose practice, BirthPointe, serves the Dallas-Fort Worth area, said that she had to turn away seven or eight women every week at the peak of the pandemic.

“People are willing to do a lot to make sure that their birth desires are really something that they can be attained and will be respected,” Santangelo said.

But she could not get the supplies she needed to accept extra clients, although she went to great lengths to obtain supplies. She even bought a face shield from a Chinese food restaurant supplier.

“People were very panicked,” Santangelo said. Most of the women who called her were already late in their pregnancies. “I don’t know if they found somebody or not.”

Women are particularly concerned about a policy, implemented in many hospitals around the nation, that bars family members from being present at birth.

“They can’t even have their children come in to meet the new sibling,” said Santangelo. “And for me, this is really, by far, my favorite part of the birth.”

Santangelo said that one of her clients, a first-time mother, plans to give birth in a hotel room in order to allow her family to be present but also to be close to the hospital. It’s actually something Santangelo has done before.

Women’s concerns about not having family present at a birth go beyond sentimentality. Rodgers explained that in the case of a medical emergency, a husband makes decisions on behalf of his wife, if she is unable to do so.

“The woman doesn’t have anyone to advocate for her,” if the husband is not present, said Rodgers. “If she has to have an emergency c-section, there’s nobody there to consent for her if she can’t consent for herself. So that is a big issue.”

Although many women did not plan to deliver their babies at home, Rodgers said that many say they end up preferring at-home births over hospital births.

“We’re seeing people have these wonderful birth outcomes, that are saying, I want to do this again. There’s no way I’d go back to the medical model of care,” said Rodgers.

As Catholic midwives, Rodgers and Santangelo serve women of all faiths with an understanding that birth is both physical and spiritual.

“It really is an opportunity to show people the grace that a woman of faith can give someone else,” said Santangelo. She has the opportunity to connect with the Catholic mothers she serves on matters of faith, but has also found that non-Catholic mothers are often looking for a sympathetic ear.

“To come from a non-judgmental place and to truly serve women because that’s the gift that God gave you, that’s my greatest joy,” she said.

“We are made body, mind and spirit by the Lord,” said Rodgers. “If you cut out one of those… then you will be missing part of the puzzle piece to caring and giving this mom and baby the best care possible.”

[…]

Denver Newsroom, Jun 23, 2020 / 04:40 pm (CNA).-  

An educator with years of experience in special education was recently named superintendent of a Chicago-area Catholic diocese. He aims to ensure that all kids can go to Catholic school who want to. 

“[Special education] is about being an advocate— getting support and services for individual students so that they can be successful regardless, whatever the disability or whatever the challenge might be,” Dr. Michael Boyle told CNA.

The Diocese of Joliet, Illinois announced last week that Boyle will be its diocesan superintendent of schools, beginning July 6.

The school system serves nearly 17,000 students in 42 elementary schools, eight high schools and two preschools, according to the diocese.

“I’m really excited to join Joliet. It is my home diocese,” Boyle told CNA.

“I think what I’m looking forward to doing as a superintendent is being able to kind of sit back, support, provide the kinds of supports to make sure that these wonderful people can continue to do the wonderful jobs that they’re doing.”

Boyle is a member of the governing boards of the Journal of Catholic Education and the National Catholic Partnership on Disability, and a member of the Professional Development Advisory Board for the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA).

While the idea of special education in Catholic schools is nothing new, Boyle said he often seeks to “reintroduce” teachers and school administrators to the idea that inclusive education— working to allow any child to attend the school, regardless of disability— is not just a nice thing to do, but is in fact a mandate from the Church.

The bishops of the United State released a pastoral letter on persons with disabilities  back in 1978, he said, challenging Catholic schools, both elementary and secondary, to be inclusive.

“They recognized it wasn’t going to be an easy battle. That in fact, we needed to build our skills. We need to build sort of that approach, but it’s something that with support, that’s something that we should be able to do,” Boyle said.

Boyle attended Catholic schools, and his wife is a Catholic school teacher; their five children also attended Catholic schools. But Boyle never set out to work in Catholic schools originally— he started his career as a school psychologist, and eventually worked as a district director of special education for a public school district in Chicago.

At that job, he created the district’s first inclusive preschool.

He later became principal of their parish’s Catholic school. Through that experience, he saw firsthand how important it was that the school make the effort to educate children with special needs in the same classrooms as children who learn typically.

“Even for kids with some significant disabilities or challenges, with an inclusive setting, it really not only benefited the kid, but— I saw with my own eyes— it also benefited other kids,” Boyle said.

Boyle most recently served as Director of the Andrew M. Greeley Center for Catholic Education at Loyola University Chicago, and as the Assistant Director of the University’s Center for Catholic School Effectiveness.

In a 2016 document for the NCEA, Boyle enumerates the layers of support a Catholic school system can provide in order to foster effective inclusive education across all its schools.

Most of the legwork in educating students with special needs is done by the teachers, so at the classroom level teachers need to be equipped with the knowledge and skills key to working with students with disabilities, and be inspired with the right dispositions toward those students.

“At the classroom level, how are we supporting teachers in terms of building the skills, the competencies and the dispositions to be able to really kind of approach that?” he said.

At the level of the school, Boyle wrote that school leaders need to equip themselves with knowledge and skills related to special education, develop policies and protocols for teachers to follow, and also should be prepared to model for teachers the disposition that serving those with disabilities “brings to life our obligations under Catholic Social Teaching.”

Finally, at the diocesan level, the bishop should be prepared to offer support and sharing of resources so that every school can offer a high level of inclusive education, Boyle wrote.

“We can’t just do an inclusionary approach on a class by class basis, we also have to look at the school’s system,” he added.

As Joliet’s new superintendent, Boyle’s work will include a focus on big-picture, system-wide approaches to expanding special education in the Catholic school system— giving schools the leadership and training they need in order that “all kids who want to avail themselves of a Catholic education, can.”

Boyle said it would be ideal if every diocese hired someone to manage their special education programs.

“As we all know the challenges— especially as we’re coming back now from COVID-19— the economic challenges facing schools are going to be critical. And most dioceses, quite frankly, are not going to be in a position to be able to do that. So I think what we have to do is we have to think about ways to maximize resources,” he said.

“I think where people have a hard time is that when everything gets dumped on one person…and so building all the members of the school community to be able to do this kind of work is really critical.”

For those dioceses not in a position to hire someone new to oversee special education, he suggested a certificate program he helped to create, which aims to help educators learn how to build an inclusive school.

At the diocesan level, Boyle said the bishops of several dioceses across the country have worked to prioritize special education in recent years.

He pointed to the dioceses of Arlington, Virginia and Phoenix, Arizona, whose bishops have made inclusive education a priority for their schools.

His goal, he said, is to ensure that the excellent, inclusive practices of many Catholic schools across the country are replicated throughout each diocese.

“My concern always is that we might get a school that does a really great job, but it becomes a lighthouse school— it’s the only school that does inclusion. When in reality, we’re all, as Catholics, called to do this is a part of who we are as Catholics,” he said.

“We just don’t want to just include to include, we also want it to be an excellent education because that’s what a Catholic education should be, right? It should be academically excellent and identifiably Catholic.”

The National Catholic Educational Association recently warned that at least 100 Catholic elementary and high schools across the United States will not reopen for the fall semester, with many suffering from low enrollment and decreased donations amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite this, Sister Dale MacDonald, NCEA public policy director, told CNA last week that about 2,000 Catholic schools across the country have not experienced massive enrollment declines, but instead have waiting lists.

For most Catholic schools, MacDonald said, about 80% of their operating budget comes from tuition. In addition, many Catholic schools hold major fundraisers in the spring, which had to be canceled or postponed after the pandemic hit.

[…]